


Our Time Is Now

by TheButterflySings



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Canonical Character Tension, Death Threats, F/F, F/M, Lewis Snart's A+ Parenting, Life Partners, M/M, Minor Character(s), Post-Canon, Ray and Leonard Still Don't Get Along, Superheroes, The Only Side Mick is On is Leonard's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:14:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7289956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheButterflySings/pseuds/TheButterflySings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Team Legends defeated Vandal Savage and Leonard Snart lived and there was no impending threat, what would the team do? Well, Kendra and Carter run off on their own. Jax, Stein, and Rip stay to help restore the timeline and the Time Masters. But what about the other four? Leonard and Mick aren't criminals anymore. There's more to them than that. Central City doesn't seem like home anymore. Sara isn't ready to return to Starling City. Too much happened there and she's not ready to go back. And Ray has nothing in Starling City anymore since Felicity took over Palmer tech. So what do they do? Moving out to Opal City offers them all a new opportunity... but no one expected them to become the "Team Arrow" of Opal City.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cause You Don't Belong

The time traveling changes all of them, but nobody seems to see how much it changes Leonard.

No one except Mick, and Leonard will always resent his partner's ability to read through his mask and know exactly what he's feeling at any given time. For anyone who's ever said that Mick isn't intelligent, check the way the man can read his partner like a large print book for four year-olds.

But the thing is, it's probably good that Mick can read Leonard as well as he can, because Leonard, as smart as he is, as careful as he is, as clever and quick-witted, has no sense of self-worth whatsoever. He can fake it for the masses, and boy does he, that snark and sass and confidence he exudes, but Mick knows-- and he'll take it to his grave before he confesses to anyone else-- that Leonard sees nothing worthwhile in who or what he is. And when he's faking it, there's no way anyone could ever know that the man is probably killing himself inside, for this reason or that, usually things beyond his control.

And Mick knows, too, another thing that he'll never admit, but he knows that the team has given him some sense of worth. Maybe they haven't always liked Snart, which, no one, not even Mick or Lisa, always likes Snart, but they've appreciated his presence. The way everyone always comes to appreciate his presence, his intelligence, his snark, his wittiness, his cleverness, and his desire, above all, to help the people he cares about. He's actually a very caring person when he lets himself care. It doesn't matter that that usually only pertains to himself, Lisa, and Mick; those just happen to be the three people topping his list of important, care-worthy people.

He's come to care about the team, this team, and so has Mick, and that, that is probably the key issue. Mick doesn't ask. He doesn't have to, he knows. Leonard isn't ready to leave the team, he's not ready to go back to Central City. Central City has held so much bad for Leonard Snart, from his mom leaving not long after Lisa was born, to his dad in general, to killing his dad just a few years before. Central City is a place he feels he has to return to, like an obligation, like he's chained there, and Mick knows that from years of hearing Leonard bitch about being there. But it's also a place that tests him, pushes, and questions his self-worth farther, because really, no one needs him there. Except maybe Mick, but Mick's always followed the damn punk to the ends of the earth-- and apparently to the ends of the time stream.

Mick watched Leonard pack in silence. He'd help, probably, if he wasn't a thousand percent sure Leonard wasn't packing because it was necessary, but because of the aesthetic of it. The feeling. The finality. It represented an ending, and there was probably something dramatic about packing up his things and walking away. Leonard had always been obsessed with the theatrics of things. Mick learned to accept it somewhere down the road.

"You gonna talk about what's eaten at you, or are we gonna keep sittin' here like this?" Mick finally asked, looking away from his partner, who hadn't looked at him in the past fifteen minutes. Mick instead focused his eyes on the ceiling, but he could hear the sounds of Leonard finishing up the last of his packing. The other didn't speak, and Mick hadn't expected him to. Mick sighed, sprawling out on the bed that had been his for the duration of their stay in the Waverider. Except for the period of time when it hadn't been because he'd either been locked in a cell, or not on the ship at all. "Fine, how about I talk? You don't want to go back to Central City, do you?"

He looked back over at Leonard, who was holding his cold gun in one hand. For a second, Mick had the fleeting feeling Leonard was going to freeze him. But then the hand on the handle relaxed, and Leonard set it down. "Is there any reason for us to return to Central City, Mick?" he asked with a lilting drawl in his voice. A coollness. Just another part of the mask; Mick could see through it.

"I dunno, you seemed to have fun with the speedster. We also got a reputation around there."

"You jealous of Barry, Mick?" Leonard smirked, raising one eyebrow when he finally looked over at Mick. Mick grunted in response, one of those grunts that was supposed to sound non-commitial, but failed to do so. Leonard was pretty good at reading his partner, too. "He's not a reason for me to go back to a city I have no attachment to anymore. Do you really think you could go back to Central City and play Captain Cold and Heatwave of the Rogues, like nothing's changed?"

"Nah," Mick admitted, picking his lighter up from where it was laying on him by the matress. He flicked it open and sparked the flame, watching it closely. "But I wasn't much of a criminal without you at my back anyway. You don't wanna go back, we won't go back."

Leonard was staring at him. Mick could feel the icy gaze, made him want to stir, move, do something. Leonard had a habit of making him feel uncomfortable. Usually when he was either, a) staring at him like that, or b) close to breaking down. Because Leonard ready to break down was a terrifying thing that Mick had never, in thirty years, learned how to handle.

"It's not that simple."

"Sure it is. We got a couple places around the country we could go to if we don't want to go back to Central City. The only thing not simple about it is how quick you are to talk yourself outta it, because you think you gotta go back for whatever reason. You don't. Lisa ain't there now, and neither is your dad, so you ain't got an obligation there now. We could go to Opal or Coast or Keystone or anywhere else if we wanted to, if you'd stop thinkin' you gotta plan every single second of every single thing. There's nothin' waiting for us in Central City, you said so yourself, so we might as well go somwhere else. You'd be happier."

Something twisted in Leonard's eyes, and he didn't smile, but he nodded. "Would you be?"

"I make myself happy wherever I am," Mick shrugged his reply. "And if you want to go somewhere else, I'll go somewhere else. Simple as that."

For once, Leonard thought that maybe his partner is right, and it actually was just as simple as that. They walked to the bridge of the Waverider together, where the rest of the team was saying goodbye. Rip was going to drop them off wherever they wanted to go, and he started to have Gideon set a course to Central City 2016, when Leonard stopped him, thinking it over.

"Not Central City for us. We're going to Opal City," Leonard decided finally, and he glanced at Mick, who just shrugged. Leonard always made the choices, Mick always followed. Some things would never change.

"Why Opal?" Sara asked, coming to stand with the klepto and the pyro, leaning against the wall beside Mick. She had her arms crossed, and she looked curious. Mick wondered why she cared, but he knew she's got a bit of a thing for Snart, it was pretty obvious, so that wass probably why.

"New start," was Leonard's simple reply, and Sara nodded, like she got it.

"Need one more?"

Mick and Leonard both stared at her. Yeah, they'd been a sort of team within a team throughout, but neither criminal had been prepared for the assassin's asking to join. In fact, Leonard had thought the team, every single one of them, would be happy to be rid of them. They weren't commonly accepted as the good guys.

"Beg your pardon?" Leonard finally responded, and Sara just managed a shrug.

"I'm not looking forward to going back to Starling City now that Laurel's not there."

Leonard understood that, and maybe he wouldn't mind it-- he likes Sara well enough. He glanced at Mick, who just shrugs, allowing Leonard to make the final decision as is usually the case. So Leonard nods. He wouldn't mind having Sara join them. But before he could actually say that, Raymond was approaching them. Timidly, like he still thought that Leonard was going to kill him if he got too close. To be fair, Leonard still considered it.

"Hard to think this is it, huh?" Ray muttered with a small laugh. "I get why you guys aren't going back to Central City, you know. New start, new beginning. All of that. I don't have anything waiting for me in Starling City. Not really looking forward to going back. This has been different. I matter here. It's... refreshing. I don't think I was ready for it to be over."

"You talk a lot," wass Leonard's only comment, and Mick rolls his eyes. He knew that his partner was only so cold to Raymond because Raymond was everything Leonard could have been if Leonard had had the same sort of opportunities. And Leonard probably related far too much to the belonging somewhere and being forced to leave wherever it is that you finally belong, he would just never admit that he related to the Eagle Scout on any level. Raymond and Leonard had quite a bit in common that neither of them saw, and Mick only did see it because he had spent so much time analyzing them both.

"So don't go back to Starling City," Mick responded, lifting a shoulder and dropping it in a shrug. He didn't mind Raymond.

"I was actually thinking... About going to Opal City, too? I mean, I would stay out of your guys' way and everything, but this... This is the closest thing to friendship I've had and, well, I keep thinking that maybe I could help you guys and you could help me, too. We are a team, right?"

"Right, just one problem," Leonard drawled out, crossing his arms. "I don't like you." And Raymond's face fell, like a puppy that had been kicked by someone he desperately wanted to have like him.

"I'd stay out of your way," he reiterated with a sort of hopeless expression, because if Leonard had made his decision, that was that and nothing would change it. And by Leonard's posture and bored facial expression, he had made his decision.

"Len," was all Mick said, and the younger man exhaled a breath through his nose, looking very tense and not at all happy with the choice he was about to make.

"Fine," he finally gave in. "Our place in Opal City is big enough to house four without much trouble. But, Raymond, if you get in my way, we'll find out very quickly how pretty you are as an ice sculpture."

He had no idea why he was doing this. He'd never been one for big team work. He liked his solitude. But he can't shake the sense of satisfaction. This is, of course, the team that had made him feel like he was more than what he'd ever been to anyone else. Sara, Ray, and Mick all look pretty pleased, too. The four outcasts that never really belonged anywhere, so they were going to force themselves to belong with each other. And it most certaintly was not going to go well, but what the hell?

They were a team.


	2. And the Tension Grows

They weren't kidding when they said their place in Opal was big enough to house four.

Three stories tall with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a large, and very expensive kitchen, balconies off two of four bedrooms. It's a nice place. And Leonard actually owns the place, though it was paid for with stolen money. He doesn't remember why he'd bought it, isn't sure if Mick does, either, or if they were even working together at the time it happened. He just remembers he'd liked it because it had huge windows that gave the whole place natural light, a big yard, and he could fill it with all of the things he hadn't had room for. It was already fairly well-decorated. Leonard enjoyed presentation, and that meant things typically looked nice for him.

"Wow," Raymond breathes as Mick parks the U-Haul truck that had been rented to move everything into the house. All that needs to be moved is his own stuff and Sara's stuff, plus very little of Mick's and Leonard's. They already have stuff for the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, and dining room, stuff from when they stayed there one of the many times they ended up having to leave Central. Or were hiding out from Lewis because he'd pulled something that nearly got Leonard killed and Mick had practically forced him out.

Ray gets out and stares up at the house, taking in the cream-colored paint and the paved walkway, the neatly trimmed yard and the big glass windows facing the road. He probably should not be so surprised that it was something so nice-- he had come to expect as much from Leonard Snart, even if it was obtained illegally. He had an eye for that kind of thing. "Nice place," he continues as he joins his new housemates in the back of the van to grab a couple boxes, kneeling to heave one up into his arms. He thinks it might be Sara's-- he doesn't remember anything he packed being quite so heavy. "Why'd you guys buy this place? Wedding gift or something? Honeymoon?"

He knows the instant that Leonard tenses and draws himself up to his full height that he's messed up. It's not like Ray's the only one who's come to the conclusion that Mick and Leonard are married; in fact, the whole team had been pretty sure of it, Martin and Jax had had discussions about it behind the criminals' backs. But Ray is the only one who's ever said something about it to their faces. And it's pretty obvious it wasn't the right thing to say. Leonard fixes Ray with a dark glare, cold as ice, and storms past him, into the house with a box in his arms.

"Something I said?" Ray asks innocently, glancing at Mick, who is also glaring. He's not sure why Leonard is so angry at him, it was an innocent assumption that would have been easily corrected.

"We aren't married, idiot," Mick snaps at him, and he grabs two boxes at once before following his partner into the house. Again, Ray's not sure why they were so angry about it. It was an innocent mistake. He feels like a kicked puppy all over again, and he really hopes that won't become the only thing he feels when pertaining to Leonard Snart.

Ray then looks at Sara, who is shaking her head like this is a brand of stupidity that she's never seen before, which is nearly implausible for the fact that she dated the playboy version of Oliver Queen, who had been notorious for stupidity and terrible decisions. "For a genius, you're a little slow," she tells him while she picks up one of her own boxes and heads out of the truck, down the walk way, and into the house, Ray trailing along behind her like a lost puppy. He nearly pouted, hastily trying to explain himself.

"I just thought--"

"You think too much," Sara cuts in.

Truthfully, marriage is a bit of a touchy subject for Mick and Leonard, and it doesn't take much to figure that out. Actually, relationships in general are a bit touchy for Leonard, and Mick's never really felt the need to be in one. And he and Leonard are whatever they are, but there's not really labels to it. The sex is great, they pretty much rely on each other, but it's not marriage, and they won't let themselves label it. It's probably Mick's fault, labels make him uncomfortable, and Leonard knows it. But a huge part of it is Leonard's fault, too, and neither of them wants to think about that part.

"Which bedrooms are taken?" Sara asks when they get to the living room, where Leonard and Mick have set down their boxes. It's obvious she interrupted some kind of silent conversation, because Mick and Leonard are staring at each other, and neither of them answers her for a minute. She wonders what it's about, but she doesn't ask. Leonard looks unreadable, and Mick just looks curious, like he doesn't quite understand the intensity of Leonard's reaction, either, though he'd reacted just as angrily.

"Both bedrooms on the third floor are open. The bigger of the two on the second is ours," Leonard finally answers, looking away from Mick. "You two can chose between the other on the second or the other two. It's up to you. They're about the same size, but one has a balcony and the other doesn't."

They both take rooms on the third floor, because experience on the Waverider tells them that they won't want to room on the same floor as Mick and Leonard. The fights are loud and the sex is louder, and Raymond, for one, wants to be able to sleep through the night. Leonard and Mick let them move in in silence, and it's a positively great start to the day that one of the housemates doesn't want to be in the same room with the other, but Mick would be lying if he said he hadn't seen this coming. Leonard has never really liked Raymond, it had been fairly well documented on the Waverider. The only argument that comes from Raymond after that is with Sara about who gets the room on the third floor that has the balcony. In the end, Sara gets it, and Mick's pretty sure that it's because assassin triumphs over boy scout with a super suit. 

"You don't gotta get snappy with the Eagle Scout," Mick tells Snart later that night while Sara and Ray are eating Chinese takeout in the living room and he and Snart are in their room. Snart's on the balcony, watching the city with sharp, keen eyes. They're just on the outskirts of Opal, so they don't have neighbors, and he can't actually see into the city, but he's watching the city lights with a cool gaze. There's a slight breeze in the air, giving the wind a certain chill. Leonard probably loves it. Mick doesn't. "He doesn't know."

"He doesn't know a lot of things, which is why he should keep his mouth shut."

Mick leans against the door to the balcony, watching Leonard carefully. He doesn't attempt to touch Leonard or anything. Their relationship is complicated to even him, so he's not surprised it's complicated to someone else. They're not overly affectionate. There's sex, but only when the adrenaline is so high. They're protective over each other, but they've also pulled guns on each other. Like they are the only ones allowed to hurt each other. They don't hold hands, they don't kiss good morning or goodnight. They fall asleep in the same bed, wake up together, essentially live their lives around each other, with each other, at each other's backs for better or for worse. But it's not the typical relationship. Never has been. Probably never will be. Things have happened to them, individually and separately that have made affection a hard thing to show.

"I'd probably have thought we were married, too, if I didn't know us," Mick admits, and Leonard turns his head a fraction of an inch. Not enough to be looking at Mick, but enough to know that the comment was heard, and that there was a reaction.

"Marriage isn't my style," Leonard drawls, but there's something in his voice that Mick can't identify.

"I know," the pyro replies, and that same something is in Mick's voice, but Leonard's not sure what it is, either. Sometimes, neither of them can read the other. It's rare, and it usually leads to a fight of some sort. Probably a physical one, if history is any indication.

"Still angry over that?" Leonard asks, his eyes fixed on a particularly bright light in the city.

"Grudges aren't my style," Mick mocks, so sarcastically that Leonard actually turns to look at him. Their eyes are locked, Leonard's cold and Mick's hard, for a few long moments, and the only sound between them is the sound of the TV downstairs and Sara and Ray laughing at whatever movie they happen to be watching. The tension is thick. Mick has that antsy feeling of being trapped or caught, the feeling that makes him want to start a fire or start a fight. Leonard is glaring at him with that carefully calm, cold gaze that he's perfected that's designed to go right through the person, make them feel nervous or anxious. All it really manages to do with Mick is piss him off. 

They have a habit of pissing each other off, and they never talk about it. They always end up fighting it out with fists, and it sure as hell isn't healthy, but Mick has the feeling that's what's going to end up happening here. He's geared up and ready to fight if that's what Leonard wants to do, though he knows Leonard knows how it'll go. Leonard is still about half Mick's weight, and most of Mick's weight comes from muscle, so Leonard never really stands a chance. The kid may be smart, but Mick's always been the brawn.

"I don't think we should be having this conversation," Leonard states blandly, his voice toneless. He pushes past Mick and back into the house, leaving Mick standing on the balcony. Mick just makes an annoyed noise and rolls his eyes. He'd expected tension between the two of them, too, but not quite so soon. He is already wondering if this is a good idea. And they've lived together for less than twenty-four hours. At least they didn't end up beating the hell out of each other. Yet. It'll happen, he's positive.

"Can we skip the fight and go straight to the angry sex?" Mick mutters as he walks into their bedroom and closes the balcony door behind him. Leonard pauses with his hands on the bottom of the tight black sweater he's wearing, and Mick can see the corners of his lips tilt up, though he's obviously trying to fight it. Shaking his head, Leonard pulls his sweater off and tosses it into the corner. He'll bitch at Mick to pick it up in the morning, even though he was the one who threw it there. Mick already knows. They've lived together long enough.

"There's not a fight, meaning there's no need for angry sex," he replies as he lays down, and Mick grumbles, crawling into the bed with him.

"Says you," he mutters in response. Leonard remains silent, but Mick's pretty sure he's grinning, so that's a win. He can't actually tell, because Leonard is on his side, facing away from him, but he doesn't seem as tense as he did when he first laid down, so Mick's going to think that this actually isn't going to be a fight.. Mick turns onto his side, facing Leonard's back in a way that used to make the other uncomfortable because of all the scars there. Mick doesn't mind them, hasn't, but he knows that Leonard feels weak, embarrassed by them, like they weren't inflicted on a scared little kid who didn't know how to stand up to his father, a father who never deserved the kids he had, because both Lisa and Leonard are too smart and kind (criminals, maybe, but criminals with a code and better hearts than they think) to have Lewis Snart's genes. Really, those scars make Mick see Leonard as stronger, but he can't tell Leonard that, because Leonard throws a fit every time Mick so much as brings them up.

"Go to bed, Mick," Leonard tells him, and Mick grunts, but he rolls onto his other side and tells himself until he falls asleep that it'll get better with a little bit of time. And maybe Ray and Leonard will. But he's known Leonard for thirty something years, and they're still fighting like this. He's not so stupid as to think time is going to make them any better than they are. It's always worked for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mick and Leonard's bitterness about marriage will be explained.


	3. Work It Out

“We are not doing this,” Leonard hisses, slamming his coffee cup on the counter as he glares at Ray, who glares right back. It’s fairly early in the morning, not even ten a.m. yet, and Mick isn’t prepared for fighting so soon. But Ray and Leonard are standing across from each other in the kitchen and there were sparks flying like electricity. Someone is about to get hurt, and if it was Leonard, Mick just might have to kill Ray just on principal. 

“I thought we were heroes,” Raymond scoffs, glaring his housemate down. “And stopping a bank heist when we know it’s being planned and is going down /today/, qualifies as heroic, doesn’t it?”

“How do we know Leonard wasn’t the one that planned the heist?” Sara clarifies, reaching for Leonard’s coffee cup and taking a drink from it. “I mean, a heist going down at Opal City Bank little over a week after we all move here? Sounds too much like a coincidence for even me.”

Leonard’s eyes narrow, and he snatches his coffee cup back. “Your faith in me is so refreshing, Lance,” he replies. “And no. It’s not me. I don’t know who it is, but it’s not my place to stop it. I’m not a hero, Raymond, and I don’t know how you learned about this heist, but if you want to play hero, go right ahead. That doesn’t mean I have to join you.”

Mick, who has remained silent thus far, finally clears his throat and steps farther into the kitchen, taking the fresh cup of coffee that Leonard offers him. Like clockwork. “What exactly is happening?” It’s too early in the morning to be thinking and he hasn’t eaten nearly enough. So he pulls a carton of eggs out of the fridge, setting them on the counter as he turns to look for a frying pan.

“There’s a bank heist going down at Opal City Bank today, apparently, and Raymond caught wind of it,” Leonard explains with a cool, sarcastic lilt in his voice. “He’d like us to go stop it. Play hero.”

“Because I thought that’s what we were now,” Ray mumbles, his lower lip jutting out like a petulant little kid. Mick has to fight to not roll his eyes. He didn’t think he’d end up playing adult in this situation while his partner and the Eagle Scout fought like small children the whole time. They’ve lived together for a little over a week and things haven’t got any easier than they were at the beginning. 

The problem is, neither Mick nor Sara can really take sides in anything. Because, even though by default, Mick’s side is always and only Leonard’s side, he doesn’t think Raymond is as wrong as Leonard does all the time. He sees where Ray is coming from. And even though his partner doesn’t like Ray, at all, Mick has never had much of a problem with the younger man. They’ve actually become friends.

“Go play hero then, kid,” Mick says as he starts to fry up a couple eggs, enough for all four of them to eat. “You don’t need our permission to do anything, do you?”

Sara is the only one who sees Raymond’s face fall, because Mick is cooking and Leonard is gazing at his nails like he couldn’t care less what’s going on. “No, I don’t,” Ray sighs. “Just thought we were a team.” He pats the pocket of his jacket and turns on his heel to leave the kitchen. “I’ll be back later, then.”

Sara waits until he’s gone, hearing the front door of the house slam shut, before she turns to look at Leonard, arms crossed over her chest. “You’re being really unfair to him,” she tells the crook, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Leonard’s eyes flash up and meet the assassin’s, a scowl causing the corners of his mouth to turn down.

“Please, explain,” Snart replies dryly, sarcasm dripping off his words like acid.

“You know he wanted to come with you two because he likes you, right? He’s not here for me,” Sara responds. “He’s here because he admires you two. He’s only ever wanted to impress you both, you especially, Leonard. He came here because he feels like he belongs here, and you’re doing nothing to help him. You don’t have to be heroes along with him, but you could stop being so damn cold to him.”

Leonard’s eyebrow arches up, and he appears uninterested, but Mick knows better. Of course Snart is interested in the fact that Ray wanted to impress him. Mick has known this since they were still on the ship, months and months ago, and he wants so desperately to roll his eyes at how dense his partner can be sometimes. And they say Mick’s the stupid one?

“Hero isn’t my type,” Leonard finally scoffs in response to Sara’s revelation. “But cold is. Raymond should be used to that.”

“Lenny,” Mick finally sighs, shifting the eggs that he’d cooked onto a plate. “The kid just wants our help. You know he’s probably gonna go getting himself into trouble without us. You say hero ain’t your type, but we’ve been playing hero the whole time. What’s so bad about doing it again? You even said we ain’t criminals anymore.” He hurries to scarf down a couple eggs because he’s hungry, but he’s pretty sure he knows exactly how this is going to end up happening.

“You want to go play hero with him,” Snart states blandly, his eyes moving over to Mick with a practiced disinterest. 

“We’re a team.” 

“I thought you hated the team.”

“My team is you and me,” Mick replies. “Whatever you choose, I’m game. But Ray’s not so bad.”

Leonard exhales a sigh through his nose and runs a hand over his face. “Fine.” He grabs his cold gun from where it, and Mick’s heat gun are leaning against the wall nearby. He hands Mick the heat gun and smiles darkly. “Let’s go play hero.”


	4. Hard to Say It

Catching up to Raymond doesn’t take long. He’s walking, not even in his A.T.O.M. suit yet, and Leonard takes a moment to wonder where he was going to stop and put that thing on before he reminds himself that he really doesn’t care. The Eagle Scout looks surprised to see them when the three pull their motorcycles to a stop in a parking lot just ahead of him. 

“Thought you didn’t want to be a hero,” Raymond says to Leonard when he climbs off his motorcycle, but he takes in the cold gun that’s in Leonard’s hand like that’s where it was made to be, and the goggles that are around his neck, and he realizes that Leonard is there to help him. 

“I don’t leave members of my crew behind,” Leonard responds, and, over the criminal’s shoulder, Ray sees Mick smirk. Leonard could act like he didn’t care all he wanted, but Mick knew, and so did Sara, and now, so did Ray, that Leonard actually thought of the whole group as a team. And that was a nice step in the right direction. For once. “Tell us what you know and how you found it out.”

“I used some of Felicity’s technology to hack into a couple known crime systems around Opal City. It was probably a secure network at one point in time, but no one can stand up to Felicity Smoak as far as hacking. So-- I found the plans that people were exchanging. Hold on.” Ray pulled his cell phone from his pocket and clicked through it for a moment, pulling up three separate files. Sara, Mick, and Leonard come to crowd around him to look at the files he’s showing them. They’re in a public parking lot, and three of four are literally holding weapons, so it’s a wonder that the cops don’t stop them.

“They have the blueprints of the building,” Sara remarks as she looks at the files gracing the screen of Ray’s phone. “Are we sure that this isn’t Leonard’s planning?”

“Too sloppy,” Mick answers. “Len usually has guard times down to a science. He knows the quickest ways in and out without getting caught or stopped. This looks more like Lewis’s planning. No guard information, no exit strategy. They have a way in, and a way to crack the safe, but they don’t have a way out, and I’m willing to bet their only plan for security systems is killing everyone who gets in their way.”

“They don’t even have listed what kind of security system it is,” Leonard mumbles, taking Ray’s phone and reading through the files that had been sent. “Opal uses a soundless security system. The police will arrive in…” He closes his eyes, remembering what he’d learned for the only job he’d ever pulled in Opal City, a job that he’d done with the Santini family while he still had an eye for mob work. “One minute, thirty-two seconds. With no plan, I’m betting Mick’s right. Shoot everyone who gets in their way. A lot of cops will die trying to stop this from happening.”

“They don’t have a time listed, either,” Ray adds. “I was planning to scope out the bank until they arrive… You guys will make it easier. I’m sure you know what a job like this will look like when they come to call.”  
“Is your plan to sit in front of the bank all day?” Leonard asks blandly, shoving the phone back into Ray’s hand. At Ray’s expression, Leonard rolls his eyes, because that is a really, really bad plan. “I have a better idea.”

“Please, enlighten us,” Ray replies in a scathing voice, and Leonard’s eyebrow arches slightly.

“There’s a cafe across the street from Opal City Bank. We stake out there, instead of right in front of the bank. Looks less suspicious, gives us a good view of what’s happening. There’s no back entrance to Opal City Bank, so they’ll have to attack from the front. This whole thing is sloppy and unorganized. I don’t know how they think they’ll get away with it.”

“They don’t have your planning skills, that’s for damn sure,” Mick mutters. Leonard spares him a look and an almost smile, because he’s used to Mick complimenting his ability, but Mick’s the only one who does. 

“Let’s go,” Ray says, and the four take off to the cafe that Leonard had talked about. They sit at one of the tables in the back corner of the outdoor seating area. Mick, Sara, and Ray each order food, and after one dark look from Mick that basically states that he’ll kick Leonard’s ass if the younger man doesn’t get something, too, Leonard orders something, too. But his keen blue eyes never stop scanning the street in front of them as he watches and waits. 

“How do you know so much about this bank, Leonard?” Sara asks as she picks at the chicken she’d ordered.

Leonard takes a sip of his coffee and sets the mug back down on the glass table they’re seated around before he answers the question. “I was recruited for a job here with the Santini family. There was a while where my father and I were doing Mob work. They only asked me because they knew I could plan it. It never happened, though. My father… wasn’t in the greatest standing with the Santinis. He pissed them off and we were sent from the job. Without my planning, they decided to throw the job all together.”

“And then your dad kicked your ass because he blamed you,” Mick adds bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Not the point,” Leonard replies with finality. His eyes scan over the street again, focusing on the work as opposed to the past. He doesn’t think about his dad unless he has to. And this far from his father, with his father being dead, he doesn’t have to think about him at all. So he chooses not to.  
“Your dad beat you?” Ray asks, sounding stunned. He pauses with his fork halfway to his mouth, staring at Leonard with his mouth agape.

Leonard gives him a cool look, tapping his fingers against the glass table with a small, annoyed hum slipping through his lips. “Is that surprising to you?” he responds with an awful sort of disinterest in his voice. He can’t stand the sympathy in Ray’s eyes.

“I mean…” Ray sighs quietly, shaking his head. “It explains a lot.”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Leonard says coldly, leaning forward with a small glare. “Learning one thing about my father doesn’t mean you know anything about me. Is that clear?”

“Hate to break this up,” Sara interrupts before Ray can respond. “But I think these might be our guys.” She tilts her chin towards the bank, and Mick, Ray, and Leonard turn towards the bank to see an armored van pulling towards the bank.

Food and arguments forgotten, the team of four get to their feet. “Let’s finish this,” Leonard declares, and they start towards the bank.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea wouldn't leave me alone.


End file.
